Blame the Wine
by Writesalott
Summary: A short cute Malec one shot written for a friend of mine from the writing prompt: Let's both get drunk tonight so that I can kiss you and then I'll blame the wine (if you don't return my feelings).


Overall Magnus would categorize himself as a brave person. He took risks with his career, bolding crossing lines no one else would. He often went out on a Friday night without the faintest idea where he'd end up in the morning. There was however one area in which Magnus Bane knew with perfect certainty he wasn't brave at all. In fact, he'd call himself a downright coward when it came to love. The result of such was that in his almost thirty years of being alive Magnus had very little to show for it apart from work. Sometimes Magnus blamed his commitment issues on his parents horrible marriage and other times he decided it was just the hand he'd been dealt and there wasn't anything he could do about it. In many ways Magnus had made his peace with this and chose to focus on other aspects of life apart from love. It had all been going very well until that one fateful day.

Magnus hadn't even been doing anything particularly different than usual. All he'd done was walk into his favourite coffee shop and order his latte. The problem was that this time the barista quite took his breath away. Crystal clear blue eyes, the darkest of ebony black hair and pale porcelain skin. Magnus had stopped to blink; he had forgotten why he was standing in line, mesmerized by the man's face. After a few moments he managed to collect himself, order his drink and get the hell out of there, but as the days turned into weeks getting his morning coffee become something of a distracting event.

"Just ask the guy out," his friends kept telling him, but Magnus only shook his head. That would be the brave thing to do. In that scenario, there was rejection. And rejection hurt. What couldn't possibly hurt is getting another latte after work, and hanging out till close. Magnus would bring a book and pretend like he was reading.

One day a name tag appeared on the gorgeous man's apron: Alec. Magnus surmised that this Alec was a new hire what with his name tag missing until now. The name bounced around in his head. Alec. It had a sharp end to it and Magnus couldn't help but wonder if it was short for something.

At some point his constant presence caught Alec's attention and the barista started coming to sit with Magnus on his breaks. First teasing him about loving the coffee shop so much then slipping into easy conversation. Magnus tried to imply that Alec didn't have to sit there with him on his breaks, but Alec simply replied that it was better than sitting in the back all alone.

And so it continued, Magnus looking forward more and more to his small moments with Alec. It wasn't long till he knew Alec's days off and avoided the shop during that time. Magnus's friends had given up trying to convince him to ask Alec out for everytime Magnus tired the words got stuck in his throat.

One day a blonde jockey looking guy walked in and right up to Alec, putting a casual hand on Alec's shoulder. Magnus instantly hated him, though this didn't stop him from eavesdropping on the conversation. It sounded like this blonde guy was hosting a party this Friday.

"Do you want to come too?" Alec asked Magnus who got over his surprise very quickly and nodded.

Magnus was too scared to ask Alec outright if this blonde guy was his boyfriend and instead stuck to their usual very casual conversation topics. He had his sights set on Friday night.

The days dragged on and on as if the mere three days till Friday were actually weeks. When it finally arrived, Magnus spent far longer than necessary choosing his clothes for the evening before finally getting up the nerve to leave the house. He arrived at the address Alec had given him to find the party already in full swing. Magnus moved through the dancing, drinking and making out bodies to try and find the one person he wanted to see most. He was strangely relieved when he saw that blonde guy from a few days ago with his tongue down some red haired girls throat.

A strange kind of relief swept over Magnus as he found Alec sitting alone on a couch in the corner.

"Over here!" Alec waved him over and Magnus followed eagerly.

"Thanks for coming," Alec smiled. "I hate these parties but Jace always insist I come. It's nice to know at least one person here."

"Happy to help," Magnus smiled. Alec motioned for Magnus to sit on the couch beside him and he did so feeling oh so very awkward about the whole thing.

It was harder to make casual conversation like this, with his knee less than an inch from Alec's rather than across the table. Magnus was focusing all his attention on both moving his hand and not moving his hand those few inches over to touch Alec's leg. It was surprisingly distracting.

"Do you want something to drink?" Alec asked.

"God yes!" Magnus replied accepting whatever it was Alec handed him and drinking it down in one go.

"Wine?" he said after swallowing. "In a beer glass?"

"Jace didn't want to break any glasses tonight," Alec explained. "This is his girlfriend's parents house."

"Oh," Magnus replied. "The red head, I presume."

"Clary," Alec agreed.

"Well here's to Clary's parent's good china," Magnus toasted holding up his red plastic beer cup full of red wine.

"Cheers," Alec replied holding up his glass as well.

As the wine flowed Magnus was started to relax. They were talking more easily now, like before at the coffee shop.

"It's always like this," Alec said. "Jace wants so Jace gets. He never lets me take him to the library!"

"You like the library?" Magnus mumbled. He refused to admit that he could feel the effects of the alcohol even if he kinda knew it to be true.

"I could like the library," Alec replied.

"What do you like?" Magnus asked.

"Stories," Alec smiled.

"So the library," Magnus chuckled.

"Shh," Alec replied, nugging Magnus playfully. "Stories are good."

"And in libraries," Magnus beamed at Alec.

"On tv too," Alec continued. His cheeks were a bright pink from the alcohol and to Magnus's exasperation the colour made him even more beautiful. Magnus found his eyes moving to focus on Alec's lips.

"Long tv shows have good stories," Alec informed him with a slight hiccup. "Some better written than others though all good in some ways."

Though still listening Magnus's thoughts had moved on. What would happen if he kissed Alec now while they were both intoxicated? Maybe rejection hurt less when drunk or better yet maybe rejection while drunk could be pinned on the alcohol. If Alec pulled away Magnus could just blame the wine.

"Dramas usually have more plot than comedies," Alec was still talking about fiction. "But they aren't as funny." He giggled before taking another sip of his drink and Magnus made a decision.

Reaching forward, all else forgotten, Magnus put a hand at the base of Alec's face before leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on Alec's full lips. To his utter surprise, Alec reacted with both arms. Magnus found himself encircled by the other man's hands arms instantly and moments later he fell back against the couch. Alec was on top of him, kissing him like Alec wanted to kiss him and Magnus was now drunk in two totally different ways.

But just as suddenly as it started Alec pulled away, moving to the total other end of the couch.

"Sorry," Alec mumbled. "You probably didn't mean, I mean wine and stuff so no worries and…" He trailed off clearly uncomfortable his face turning redder than ever before and looking down at his knees.

His heart touched in a way it hadn't been before, Magnus moved slowly forward and gently touched Alec's chin to encourage him to look up. Magnus looked into those beautiful blue eyes and spoke with more bravery than he ever had before in his life.

"We can't blame the alcohol for this one," Magnus replied softly. "I've wanted to kiss you since the first day I met you."

The soft smile that slowly crossed Alec's face, seemed to melt the ice around Magnus's heart.

"Really?" Alec asked as if this were the most impossible thing in the world.

"And here I thought I was the one being obvious," Magnus chuckled. "Wasn't I the one who sat around your store all day just to be near you?"

"You were reading," Alec stated.

"I was pretending to read," Magnus corrected him. Once again Alec smiled. Then without a moment's warning, he flung himself forward and their lips meeting once more. Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec feeling like he'd never be sober again.


End file.
